Starling cited as a ‘leader’ among the UTSA cornerbacks

SAN ANTONIO — Bennett Okotcha and Crosby Adams continue to hold down the starters’ jobs at cornerback for the UTSA defense.

But cornerbacks coach Jeff Popovich on Thursday night pointed to senior Darrien Starling for his leadership and improvement.

“He’s probably been a leader of those guys this off season,” Popovich said.

Popovich said it was fair to call the fall camp a ‘bounce-back’ camp for Starling, who started only four games last year after starting 10 each in 2011 and 2012.

“If he’s walked off the field and didn’t have a great day, he bounced back the next day,” Popovich said. “(He’s) putting together … consistent practices. It’s been fun for me to watch that, to see the transition from a year and a half ago, when I got here, to this fall.”

Other corners mentioned as being in the rotation, with the season-opener looming next Friday at Houston, were Fred Blow, Trevor Baker and Andre Brown.

Blow is a walkon, a transfer from Air Force out of Atascosita High School.

Adams, a senior from Roosevelt, said he’s pleased with the progress in fall camp.

Though he admits there’s work to be done, he said he likes the vibe at practice.

“Great energy,” Adams said Thursday. “Great emotion. The time is just going by so fast. It’s hard to believe that for a lot of us this is our last year, our last go-round. (I think) we’re ready. We’re tough. Mentally focused. Ready to ball.”

Adams said he remembers how the Houston game got away from UTSA in the fourth quarter last year.

How UTSA played Houston on even terms for three quarters and then watched as five fourth-quarter turnovers allowed the Cougars to turn it into a 59-28 victory.

“I feel like we got to put it all together,” Adams said. “We can’t be good for two quarters, three quarters, three and a half quarters. We got to play all four to win this game because they’re a good team.”

The Roadrunners have come through camp fairly healthy but continue to monitor the progress of offensive tackle Josh Walker and running back Brandon Armstrong, who have been held out of practices recently.